Seesaw including gear means for transmitting movement



' March 28, 1967 w. PHILLIPS 3,

SEESAW INCLUDING GEAR MEANS FOR TRANSMITTING MOVEMENT Filed July 23, 1964 United States Patent 3,311,373 SEESAW INCLUDING GEAR MEANS FOR TRANSMITTING MOVEMENT Donald W. Phillips, RD. 2, Claysville, Pa. 15323 Filed July 23, 1964, Ser. No. 384,758 1 Claim. (Cl. 272-54) This invention relates to apparatus for playgrounds and the like.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a seesaw which will have means enabling small children to sit upon it and pump themselves up and down in a well known manner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a seesaw which will be of such construction as to allow small children to ride who would be unable to ride seesaws of the prior art because their legs would not be long enough, and the device may also be used for exercise to strengthen childrens bodies.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a seesaw which will have gear means in the central area of the apparatus to transmit the rocking motion to the apparatus.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a seesaw which will have handle bar means to create the rocking motion in conjunction with the gear box attached to the apparatus.

Other objects of the invention are toprovide a seesaw bearing the above objects in mind which is of simple construction, has a minimum number of parts, is inexpenpensive to manufacture and efiicient in operation and use.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view comprising the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is 'a side view of the invention shown partly broken away; and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the support frame with the apparatus shown removed.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, a seesaw made in accordance with the present invention is shown to include a pair of spaced apart A-sh'aped frames 12 which are provided with a pair of parallel cross bars 14 and 14 which provide support means for the various components of the apparatus. Cross bar 14 is freely and slidably received within 'an arcuate slot opening 16 through gear box 18 and a sector gear 20 is rotatably mounted to cross bar 14 and sector gear 20 toothingly engages with sector gear 22 which receives cross bar 14' within gear box 18, for a purpose which will hereinafter be described. The gear box 18 is fastened to the sector gear 22. A rod 24 secured to shaft cross bar 14, and a pair of elongated link rods 26 are pivotably secured to the lower extremity of rod 24 by means of a pivot pin 28. A control bar 30 is pivotably secured to the other end of link rods 26 by means of a pivot pin 32. A bracket 34 secures a horizontal foot bar 36 to control bars 30 and provides foot rest means for the user of seesaw 10. A pair of elongated parallel bars 38 are secured to the top of gear box 18 at the center and are secured at their ends to a pair of circular seats 40. A pivotable bar 42 fixedly secured to control bars 30 at right angles provides a pivot point and right ice angle extension of the control bars 30 which are received between parallel bars 38. The upper extremity of control bars 30 is provided with a handle bar 44 which provides handle grip means for operating automatic seesaw 10. A plurality of pins 46 are transversely recieved through cross bars 14 and 14' on either side of gear box 18 and prevents lateral sliding of the components heretofore described.

In operation, the children seated upon seats 40 grip the outer extremities of handle bars 44 and urge control bars 30 forward and backward, which, by means of link rods 26, impart rotary motion to gears 20 and 22, which through parallel bars 38 secured to gear box 18 imparts a rocking motion to seesaw 10.

It will be recognized that the arcuate opening 16 through gear box 18 provides freedom of movement for rod 14 during the operation of seesaw 10.

It shall further be noted that one end of cross bars 14 and 14' may be secured to an A-frame or other structure which supports other playground apparatus such as swings and the like.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claim.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A seesaw apparatus comprising, in combination, a pair of A-frames, first and second cross-bar members carried by said A-frames for providing support for the movable components of said apparatus, a gear box having an arcuate slot and a hollow bottom portion therein, said gear box movably supported on said cross-bar members, a pair of sector gears positioned within said gear box with each rotatably secured to one of said cross-bar members, a downwardly extending rod secured to said second crossbar member and being oscillatably disposed relative to said hollow portion of said gear box, a pair of elongated link rods being pivotally secured to a pair of swaying downwardly extending rod, the free ends of said elongated link rods being pivotally secured to a pair of swaying means which include a pair of control bars, each bar being provided with a horizontal foot rest, a pair of elongated parallel bars firmly affixed to the top portion of said gear box and being 'adapted to operably communicate with the outwardly positioned control bars, a circular seat at each end of the elongated parallel bars for imparting swaying motion to its respective control bar for pivotally moving its adjacent elongated link rod for imparting the rotary motion -to the sect-or gears within said gear box, thereby causing said elongated parallel bars to rock relative to said cross-bar members, and a plurality of transverse pins carried by said cross-bar members for providing stop means against lateral sliding of said gear box when said apparatus is in operation.

References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS 1,124,285 6/1956 France.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

F. BARRY SHAY, Examiner.

A. W. KRAMER, F. B. LEONARD, Assistant Examiners.

Patented Mar. 28, 1967 

